My 15 month old is starting to go to bed later and later..how can I put him back on track?

Question

We have a routine that he gets his formula while I rock him to sleep, but when I put him in bed, he wakes up and starts to scream and won't go back to sleep. I'm loosing my cool with him and I don't like that. I tried taking his afternoon nap away but then he'll fall asleep around 7 to wake up about 1/2 hour later and stay up until 11pm and getting later every night. HELP!!

Answer 1

try putting him down for his afternoon nap around 12.00 let him sleep for an hour then lift him. decide a bedtime for him and stick to it. give him his supper, bath and bed when you get him into bed try reading him a story and then say goodnight darling i love you and give him his goodnight kiss. turn out all lights except night light and leave the room. if he gets up put him back into his bed and kiss him etc. when he gets out again put him back in without speaking to him and keep repeating this no matter how hard he screams he will soon stop it when he realises that he is not getting his own way. this may take a couple of nights to work but be patient as it does eventually.

Answer 2

Part of the problem might be that he's used to getting rocked to sleep, and when he wakes up and you're not there, he's having trouble settling himself down.

Do you rock him to sleep for naps, too? Or does he settle himself then?

When you say he won't go back to sleep, what does that mean? Does he cry for 5 minutes? 10? An hour?

We went through a phase like this with each of our kids when they were maybe 8 or 9 months old. And we'd set the timer; we'd let them cry for 10 minutes, and then go in to pat on the back, reassure, talk, whatever, but not take them out of the crib. Then we'd leave, and start the timer over. We never had to do it more than three times, and we were over it, for the most part, within a week or two.

Don't take his nap away. He needs it, and being overtired could also be part of his problem. Instead, get serious about that nap. He has it every day, come hell or high water, and he goes down every afternoon at 12:30 or 1. No later than 1:30. And wake him up if he's not up on his own after 2 hours or so. Then do some very active play, give dinner, and start settling down. Have a nice bath, read a story or two, and give the bottle. Maybe give the bottle in his room, with a CD playing that you will ALWAYS play at sleepy time, and a nightlight on. And if you can, start putting him in his crib while he's very drowsy, but not quite asleep.

You CAN break this habit. It might be a tough couple of weeks, but it can be done.

One other question: is he on the cusp of some developmental milestone? Is he starting to talk, or starting to walk, or anything like that? My kids always had sleep disturbances when they were on the verge of something new. Any possibility that he's teething or has an ear infection? You might try a dose of Motrin before bed, just to see if that's part of it...

Answer 3

Dinner, playtime, oatmeal, bathtime, formula, then bedtime. If he's not tired by this time, rock him to sleep. Having a full belly makes them sleep better. Warm water makes them sleepy. When he naps during the day, try letting him put himself to sleep. Gradually make him learn this. It'll get easier on you too. Maybe before dinner time you could take him to the park to get some of that energy out as well as spend precious moments together. Gee, after all this, you'll be sleeping right along with him.

Answer 4

Better let him have his afternoon nap, then he will be up after that and exhaust himself, have his bath and feed and go to sleep. He is only 15months and is growing rapidly, he needs to be fed every four to six hours. Or else he will get up and cry.

Answer 5

At the same time every night, turn the lights out. even if he cries, let him. his body will become accustom to this routine and follow it.

Answer 6

for us, we played with our girls for 2 to 4 hours a day when we had time. would not let them goto sleep until the time we wanted them to.